No matter who you are or what you do in life, it seems there are nasty little habits it’s just darn right difficult to shake.

You probably don’t even realise you’re doing half of them, but if you want your CANDo get-up and go-go attitude to help your life really shine, you’re gonna have to work on giving a few of them the boot.

These habits have probably kind of snuck up on you or, worse still, you’ve listened to some of your bad-ass Inner Imps (or somebody else’s) and abandoned your own instincts. Either way they’re there and something needs to be done about them.

The first step in curing this all too contagious malady is to recognise these bad boys for who they are. Accept and embrace them and then you’re on the right road to banishing them from your life.

Below are some of the most common bad habits that may be stopping you from realising your true potential as a CANDo Get-Up and Go-Goer. The list isn’t exhaustive and I’d be interested in hearing your own thoughts in the comments at the end. Feel free to disagree too – nothing like a bit of healthy debate to get your Inner Imps having a second look at themselves in Honesty’s mirror.

Blaming Someone Else

“I come from a broken home.” “I didn’t get the last job, why bother going to yet another interview?” “The teachers at my school didn’t teach me anything.”

I get it, honest I do but, PLEASE STOP.

What’s past is past. Stop being a victim and accept that you’re the one in control NOW.

It’s NOW that matters and, as you’re the one in control, NOW you can mould your life into what you want it to be.

Accept my sympathy, but then, for your own sake, please move on.

Thinking Negatively

We ALL spend far too much time listening to the negative thoughts our Inner Imps spawn prolifically in our heads. “You can’t do that!” “You’ll fail… again!” “It’ll never work.”

They’ll try and peddle it to you any way they can. They’ll even gift wrap it and try and sell it to you as well meaning advice that’s “good for you” because it’ll save you from failure/hurt/embarrassment…

PLEASE IGNORE THEM.

Re-route your thought processes into more positive channels that will encourage you to achieve.

Procrastinating

I’m not gonna lie to you, we all do it now and then. The key is “moderation”. Procrastinating NOW AND THEN is okay, the trouble with “can’t-be-assed-to-get-up-and-go-goers” is that they’re addicted to it. They can always find something else to do other than the things that are going to change their lives.

If you do nothing else today, write a list of 2 − 3 meaningful (but achievable) goals and DO THEM. Then do the same tomorrow and the next day and the day after….

Waiting for the Perfect Moment

“I’ll join a gym when I’ve lost a few pounds.”

“I’ll give up smoking on New Year’s Eve.”

“I’ll get the wife flowers on our anniversary.”

If you’re sat waiting for the doorbell to ring so you can open it and let a perfect moment enter your life, shame on you.

Don’t wait. Perfect moments very rarely arrive unannounced, they’re usually “created”. They’re created by doing little things each and every day that slowly, but surely, move you towards them.

Join that gym now and it will help you lose weight.

Giving up smoking in the New Year will be just as hard if not harder than if you do it now.

Buying your wife flowers on days other than on your anniversary, valentine’s day or a birthday isn’t against the law. You can appreciate her with a small, inexpensive bunch of flowers any day of the year and “create” a perfect moment for her.

Stop waiting and start doing.

Trying to Do Everything Yourself

Nobody is expecting you to balance the entire world on your shoulders. There is no shame in seeking, asking and making jolly good use of help, provided you’re not abusing other people’s helpful nature.

There are some things you’re the bees-knees at getting done and others that others can do equally well if not better (and faster!) than you.

Work smart not hard.

Use – and I use the word use in a positive sense – your team of partner, family, friends and coworkers and spread the burden. That’s what they’re there for.

Wasting Time

I bet if every wannabe CANDo Get-Up and Go-Goer looked really hard, there are at least two things a week that they do every week (if not every day) that are a complete waste of time and make very little, if any, contribution whatsoever towards making their life a better place to live.

Be it watching that soap opera on TV FIVE times a week, surfing the net, checking Facebook all day, whiling away hours on YouTube, twittering on Twitter or reading spammy emails, there’s something that could be knocked on the head so that the time could be used more effectively.

“Can’t-be-assed-to-get-up-and-go-goers” are notorious for starting things and then giving up half way through.

Start applying for a job and then stop.

Start a self-improvement book or course and then get bored halfway through.

Start a diet and then break it.

Of course, there are times when we do need to let things go and move on to something more productive or potentially successful, but this generally isn’t a problem “can’t-be-assed-to-get-up-and-go-goers” ever get to because they’ve usually already given up long since.

If you start something, grab your Self-Discipline and KEEP GOING. If it was good enough to start, then it’s good enough to finish so PERSEVERE.

Ambling Along with No Goals in Mind

You only get one shot at life. Get out of the habit of simply ambling along and accepting the scraps life throws at you. Get a grip, write down a goal or two and then go get the whole piggin’ meal.

Dreaming They’re Someone Else

Personally, I spend far too much time reading and looking at pictures of rich and famous nobody’s in the press. Who’s wearing what, pregnant, dancing with, divorcing, marrying, cheating on who… blah, blah, blah. I look at the photos that usually accompany this “news” – and I use the word “news” here in the very lightest possible way – and daydream about the beautiful dresses I’d wear, cars I’d drive, houses I’d live in. If you do stuff like this WAKE UP.

It’s great to have role-models but keep in mind that they are them and you are YOU. DON’T idolise them to the point you dream about being them and neglect being you. What’s wrong with being you anyway? With a few goals and some get-up and go-go your life could be just as glamourous.

Just as a bit of a disclaimer here, I’m not a 100% saddo with this. I find it sometimes gives me a bit of a kick up the proverbial to do something towards achieving one of my goals – or is that simply my Laziness Imp pulling a fast one? You tell me! Maybe I should be putting this one on my list of things that waste my life and get shot of it – or limit it to once a week at least?

As I said at the beginning, this list isn’t exhaustive but they are all common, habitual bad habits that can be “unlearned” by shoving a little effervescence up the bum of some of your everyday life skills. Get rid of the bad habits and start introducing a few more productive ones.